Apple today unveiled a new 1GB iPod nano for just $149, essentially a 2GB nano sans half the flash memory, as first rumored in December.

The new 1GB iPod nano is thinner than a #2 pencil and features Apple's patent pending Click Wheel and the same color screen as the other iPod nano models. Each 1GB iPod nano holds up to 240 songs or 15,000 photos.

In addition, Apple also announced that it is reducing the price of its 512MB and 1GB iPod shuffle to $69 and $99 respectively.

"Now everyone can afford an iPod nano, with our new 1GB model starting at just $149," said Greg Joswiak, Apple's vice president of Worldwide iPod Product Marketing. "The iPod is the world's most popular digital music player with over 40 million sold, and now even more music lovers can experience the unrivaled combination of iPod and iTunes."

Pricing and Availability

The 1GB white and black models of iPod nano for Mac or Windows are available worldwide immediately for a suggested retail price of $149 (US), through the Apple Store, Apple's retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers. All iPod nano models include earbud headphones, a USB 2.0 cable, case and a CD with iTunes for Mac and Windows computers.

I'll probably get one of these bad boys for the gym! But at the same time shuffle prices are better, but can I sacrifice a navigation screen? Sure I can't change songs in the middle of a set but I can change playlists between exercises.

Anyways this will sell like hotcakes, or like ipods, take your pick.

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the shuffle still blows away the nano for working out simply because it has better clip options. With the right clip you can put it on your shirt collar and have as close to a wire free hassle as possible, which is perfect for working out.

for the car and for watching videos from the music store on the TV, the ipod video is perfect.

Originally posted by bperkinsSo what will happen to the shuffle? My hopes are they keep it.

Presently they have just lowered the prices. Previously reports were they were selling all they could make. My guess is it stays for the time-being. They don't seem to be saying much about it however. It is just "there". And why should they. They have an answer for the extremely price concious, but they would love to sell the higher margin products instead.

Originally posted by tdamoni don't get it. why would anyone want a 1GB Nano? then again, i didn't really understand at 2GB Nano, either.

guess i just like having more music than that with me....

the shuffle was a great idea.. it's ideal for working out... plop your good workout music on there and go, but for general iPod use i need something with more storage

Cost. 1GB easily holds about as much or more music than can be played on a charge. I have a few smart playlists that I use to automatically change out the tracks that I've played on the nano for new ones.

Originally posted by JeffDMCost. 1GB easily holds about as much or more music than can be played on a charge. I have a few smart playlists that I use to automatically change out the tracks that I've played on the nano for new ones.

Yes. 240 songs (at 4 minutes each) is 16 hours of music! Well more than my commute + work day + commute home. I am serious considering iPod nano 1GB when it comes time to replace my 20GB 3G iPod.

Video doesn't hold much interest for me. I could probably still put my entire photo collection, contacts, calendars and 9-10 hours of music on the thing and be quite content.

I think Apple is getting to the point where the top end of their iPod line is going to "evaporate" for most of the market. It seems to have been whithering away slowly anyway. Who on earth really has 60GB worth of music? OK...some folks do. Now, after those 1,000 have bought their iPods, why does anyone else need one that big? Well...in comes video. But portable video is a small market. An Apple iTMS+TiVO+Netflix-ish thing has got to be their next big play to generate growth.

Originally posted by Chris CuillaYes. 240 songs (at 4 minutes each) is 16 hours of music! Well more than my commute + work day + commute home. I am serious considering iPod nano 1GB when it comes time to replace my 20GB 3G iPod.

Video doesn't hold much interest for me. I could probably still put my entire photo collection, contacts, calendars and 9-10 hours of music on the thing and be quite content.

Gee...I wonder why the nanos are selling so well.

Yes, 16 hours of music is more than enough... but what if you want to listen to something that isn't on there at the moment? Not to mention you have to remember to sync your iPod every time you're going anywhere (to get different content) regardless of whether it needs to be charged or not.

I had a mini for years, and it served me well, but when I started getting into podcasting I was constantly having to decide what music I probably wasn't going to listen to so I could make space on the thing. Now that I have a 30GB video it can hold all of my library and more... it's just a much better solution for me. I like having all my options available when I'm going to be using the iPod for a while.

From what I hear and see, the iPod (30 or 60) has been doing really really well. Many teens I know got them, not nanos, for presents over Christmas. And the reason is video. (Yes, it's anecdotal and maybe I just know teens with rich parents/grandparents).

For Apple, the nano is the perfect music-mostly, some photos device. Priced at $249 and down.

And the iPod is now the video device, but it's just the first version. I expect a significant redo by October that fully addresses the portable video experience, just like the nano was a significant redo of the mini. And I can see it continue to be priced at $299 and up for the next year or 2.

Originally posted by tdamonYes, 16 hours of music is more than enough... but what if you want to listen to something that isn't on there at the moment? Not to mention you have to remember to sync your iPod every time you're going anywhere (to get different content) regardless of whether it needs to be charged or not.

I had a mini for years, and it served me well, but when I started getting into podcasting I was constantly having to decide what music I probably wasn't going to listen to so I could make space on the thing. Now that I have a 30GB video it can hold all of my library and more... it's just a much better solution for me. I like having all my options available when I'm going to be using the iPod for a while.

All quite true. I suspect most users probably don't fit into that category. I don't (anymore).

Originally posted by Chris CuillaI think Apple is getting to the point where the top end of their iPod line is going to "evaporate" for most of the market. It seems to have been whithering away slowly anyway. Who on earth really has 60GB worth of music? OK...some folks do. Now, after those 1,000 have bought their iPods, why does anyone else need one that big? Well...in comes video. But portable video is a small market. An Apple iTMS+TiVO+Netflix-ish thing has got to be their next big play to generate growth.

Eh, maybe not quite as low as 1,000 ... maybe 2,000! But seriously, I've been an iPod adapter since the second gen, and I've had every generation of the full sized iPod. I also have ~12GB worth of music. I thought long and hard before abandoning my 20GB 4th gen for the 30GB video, but then decided, why not? I like having all of my music with me at one time, and the video may come in handy. You never know what kind of day it'll end up being, and so you need the music to go with it. I was listening to "Eye of the Tiger" going into an engineering exam this morning. I came out and sulked back to my dorm to the "Imperial March" from Star Wars. I just couldn't go down to a nano because I'd have to leave 1/3 of my library on my computer.

I do agree that some Movie distributors or companies will need to get on board. Podcasts, TV shows and MV's are great, but will only carry you so far. Apple is doing well with TV shows, but movies have to get in there too. I have a few DVD's ripped to my iPod as H.264's, and they look great. Buying movies through iTMS where they're already formatted and scaled would be much easier and save me some time. A movie is what, like 3 - 5 times longer than a TV show, so charge maybe 4 times more for movies? Would you pay $6.99 - $8.99 for a movie formatted for the iPod? That's going to be where the consumer hesitation is. Yeah, you can hook the iPod up to a TV and watch it, but how much does quality suffer. Will you lose DVD navigational functionality? Chapter markers wouldn't be too hard to incorporate, but what about the people that actually want the bonus features? These are all things Apple would have to investigate before distributing movies...

Originally posted by Chris CuillaAll quite true. I suspect most users probably don't fit into that category. I don't (anymore).

Well, I do. When taking even an hour-long ride, I like to be able to listen to what I want (the whole point of an iPod, I thought), not what I thought I might have wanted to listen to the night before. And even if you got the first trip OK, on the return trip, its "Man, I wish I had that Fogerty album on this thing!". And with a small player, if you're looking to listen to an album or two, you might as well leave the iPod at home and just put 6 CDs in the car.

Of course, I've got 40GB of music, audiobooks, radio programs, etc on my iPod. The audiobooks and radio stuff could be left off in a crunch (when I was maxing out my 30GB 3G, I had to start trimming the fat to get everything on there), but its just nice to be able to pick what I want to hear (or just say "Hey, shuffle me up some of my favorite music". (Of course, Apple's "Shuffle Play" menu is useless to me, since it just does everything, when I usually like to shuffle through just 3-star or better music).

Good thing Apple continues to take the tack that HP did for printers... continuous improvement and price reductions that undercut all competitors along with the billion song promo. Heading for more record-breaking numbers from Apple.

Originally posted by LouzerWell, I do. When taking even an hour-long ride, I like to be able to listen to what I want (the whole point of an iPod, I thought), not what I thought I might have wanted to listen to the night before. And even if you got the first trip OK, on the return trip, its "Man, I wish I had that Fogerty album on this thing!".

The random sampling system I use seems to ensure that a few tracks of everything are on my player. And I don't really bother thinking about what is loaded, my system is fully automatic.

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Of course, I've got 40GB of music, audiobooks, radio programs, etc on my iPod. The audiobooks and radio stuff could be left off in a crunch (when I was maxing out my 30GB 3G, I had to start trimming the fat to get everything on there), but its just nice to be able to pick what I want to hear (or just say "Hey, shuffle me up some of my favorite music". (Of course, Apple's "Shuffle Play" menu is useless to me, since it just does everything, when I usually like to shuffle through just 3-star or better music).

I use smart playlists to load only 3+ star stuff on the player. I also can uncheck tracks that you don't want on the player, there is a setting to not load checked tracks onto the player. There is a per-file setting that says to not play said file in shuffle mode, but there is no easy way to change that setting in groups of files.

Originally posted by Chris CuillaWho on earth really has 60GB worth of music? OK...some folks do. Now, after those 1,000 have bought their iPods, why does anyone else need one that big?

How about for improved sound quality? I realize many people will think this concern may be relegated to another 1,000-person batch, but the sound degradation that goes along with downampling music to 128kbps is not only very noticeable, it's also really annoying. I've heard voices broken into pieces, missing tones, and dramatically-different tonal moods as a result of downsampling. It's like the difference between digital cable and analog cable; squares appear on the screen whenever high-contrast images, color shifts, or rapid motion appears in a digital broadcast. I'm not saying digital is inferior, but the way it's been employed so far has made it seem so. And the "tin-ear" argument I often hear (most people can't tell the difference) holds very little water in my opinion. I truly believe most people can't tell the difference because the majority of people are used to crappy quality due to crappy mp3s and crappy speakers. Not saying you need to go out and buy an audiophile system for thousands of dollars, but most people hear things in less-than-great listening conditions.

I realize I'm probably coming off as a sound-snob, but the truth is I'm just sick of the industry trying to give us less than we deserve. If we lose the big iPods, we lose any chance at real sample rates and real sound quality. The music industry, including Apple, would love this because it provides for cheaper, lighter transport and more content at a lower price (again, like digital cable's zillion-plus channels at very crappy quality). In my opinion, that's not OK. I'd take less content in favor of quality content any day without hesitation. Take some time and listen to Johnny Cash's voice splinter at 128 kbps and you might agree with me.

Side note: I refuse to buy music from the iTunes music store until they offer lossless-quality downloads.

Originally posted by Gene CleanThere will always be room for others to make money. Not as much as Apple, but there will always be more room.

Certainly true.

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Originally posted by Gene CleanAnd grabbing the entire market is not a good thing.

Well...Microsoft doesn't seem to be hurting too badly.

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Originally posted by Gene CleanDoJ may come knocking to their door more often than they would want them to.

True. They may. But remember, having a monopoly, in and of itself is not illegal, but using predatory or monopolistic tactics or leveraging one to form another is. At this point Apple hasn't shown such tendencies.

As someone purchasing music, I feel like I DESERVE to get a product of the same quality if I'm paying the same price. If I pay $10 for a CD and $10 for a downloadable album, I shouldn't have to sacrifice sound quality for what's pimped as an equivalent.

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And you have this option with CDs and lossless ripping. Am I wrong?

You're not wrong and I'm very glad you aren't. I've just been looking at the trends in media distribution for the past few years and they've been migrating toward a model of inferior quality/more quantity. I caught "Good Will Hunting" on digital cable the other night and in more than one scene Matt Damon's face was rendered no better than what a kindergartener might throw on paper with some giant crayons. It's so highly compressed the the details become giant squares, a digital mosaic. Music has been skewing the same way. I fear that in the future, the only way to get what used to be and is currently STANDARD quality will be relegated to the realm of PREMIUM quality and, in my opinion, that's wrong. You pay the same money for an inferior product and have to pay more for what used to be normal. That's not something I deserve as a consumer. I mean honestly, how can you defend the steady move toward sub-standard quality that multiple industries have been pushing?

Originally posted by cxl200As someone purchasing music, I feel like I DESERVE to get a product of the same quality if I'm paying the same price. If I pay $10 for a CD and $10 for a downloadable album, I shouldn't have to sacrifice sound quality for what's pimped as an equivalent.

Careful here. People assume that the two products are the same. They are not. They have different "features". The iTMS provides buyers with two advantages that buying a CD does not:

1. Ability to buy singles
2. Instant gratification

You are correct that there is a quality trade-off.

But some people (enough to have bought 850 million anyway) have decided that this trade-off is worth it. You have more options now that iTMS exists than before it did.

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Originally posted by cxl200You're not wrong and I'm very glad you aren't.

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Originally posted by cxl200I've just been looking at the trends in media distribution for the past few years and they've been migrating toward a model of inferior quality/more quantity.

Hmmm...

First, you have a choice as a consumer to not buy the products of inferior quality. Second, it seems to me that the quality has been increasing (DVD vs. VHS as one example). Now the prices on DVDs have been higher, but these too are beginning to come down. Next up to bat is HD DVD (of one form or another).

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Originally posted by cxl200I fear that in the future, the only way to get what used to be and is currently STANDARD quality will be relegated to the realm of PREMIUM quality and, in my opinion, that's wrong.

Well, it may be headed that way. A valid concern indeed. But we have a choice to not buy as well. I mean media entertainment (TV, movies, music, DVD players, digital cabel, TiVO, iPods, etc.) aren't exactly like food, clean air and water, clothing and shelter. They are not essential to life. It might take an adjustment, but I could live without them. Once the value (price/quality ratio) diminishes to a certain level, I likely will. Chances are, my life will actually be better for it too.

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Originally posted by cxl200I mean honestly, how can you defend the steady move toward sub-standard quality that multiple industries have been pushing?

Originally posted by Chris CuillaCareful here. People assume that the two products are the same. They are not. They have different "features". The iTMS provides buyers with two advantages that buying a CD does not:

1. Ability to buy singles
2. Instant gratification

You are correct that there is a quality trade-off.

But some people (enough to have bought 850 million anyway) have decided that this trade-off is worth it. You have more options now that iTMS exists than before it did.

Hmmm...

First, you have a choice as a consumer to not buy the products of inferior quality. Second, it seems to me that the quality has been increasing (DVD vs. VHS as one example). Now the prices on DVDs have been higher, but these too are beginning to come down. Next up to bat is HD DVD (of one form or another).

Well, it may be headed that way. A valid concern indeed. But we have a choice to not buy as well. I mean media entertainment (TV, movies, music, DVD players, digital cabel, TiVO, iPods, etc.) aren't exactly like food, clean air and water, clothing and shelter. They are not essential to life. It might take an adjustment, but I could live without them. Once the value (price/quality ratio) diminishes to a certain level, I likely will. Chances are, my life will actually be better for it too.

I'm not really defending it at all.

I agree with many of your points, especially the fact that currently, I do have a choice (at least when it comes to music, because when it comes to cable/satellite, that choice is pretty much long gone -- unless you want to pay a lot of money). I'm just afraid that the days of choice are coming to a close and I'm not a fan of that. And I also realize these items are less than essential, but it doesn't make me like current industry practices.

And yes, if things get so crappy as to make us not want them at all, my life would improve as well. The grip of consumerism is nasty and strong.

I have a 4 GB nano and an older mini but now I might just pick up a 512 MB shuffle to tote files around with and to use at the gym. Sure, I've used my mini and nano at the gym with iPod armband, but the nano is simple and easy and if it only held my workout playlist it'd be something easy to grab and go and I wouldn't worry about my nano in any way..

Originally posted by NOFEERdoes the nano use the same connector as the 3g 20g ipod(scrol wheel-pre click wheel) and what comes in the box?? does the lanyand like the shuffle come with it or is it separate??

The nano has a dock connector, just like the 3g and later iPods and mini. It comes with a USB dock cable, installation CD, earbuds, the nano itself, and maybe some random crap. (Apple should include the legendary Apple stickers.)

i couldn't wait bought the 1gb shuffle and personalized it for my wife when she works out--valentines day you know. again, simple, no cords, great lanyard and personalization was free. i like the nano but only one computer has usb2.0 and i didn't want to buy more accessories. simple is wonderful. also i'm waiting for an ipod with BT
i gueess with 1gb she can also put on audio books and podcasts

thanks xool for the info, but i think this simple solution for my wife will be the ticket.